1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for sending information on a user in an emergency situation without any operation of the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a monitoring system using a cell phone, a monitoring system that controls and monitors a cell phone to be monitored from a monitoring center is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-247223. This type of monitoring system links a plurality of monitoring modes corresponding to different degrees of emergencies to a schedule of monitoring period. With this configuration, the monitoring system sends various pieces of information required for ascertaining a situation, such as sound, images, and surrounding situation of the cell phone being monitored, to the monitoring center. Thus, a comprehensive monitoring system can be built, which enables to secure a safety of a user, and taking preservation of an evidence and a preemptive move in an emergency, for a variety of emergency situations.
However, the monitoring system described above is not so cost-effective, as it requires other installations apart from the cell phone. Besides, the operation of the monitoring system is complicated, as it requires prior selection of the monitoring mode and registration of monitoring request duration.
In response to the need for a simple monitoring system that can dispense with installations, such as a security device, and a monitoring center, a security system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-72499, in which a user can send information to a predetermined destination by pressing an emergency button on a wireless terminal apparatus.
The wireless terminal apparatus is equipped with a function of storing data pertaining to an emergency situation that arises when the apparatus is out of communication range and sending the stored data when the apparatus enters in the communication range again. Furthermore, even when the apparatus is switched off or in a stand-by mode, its security function is always on.
However, since the wireless terminal apparatus described above requires pressing of the emergency button, it is not very effective in some situations, such as abduction or illegal incarceration, where the user cannot access the wireless terminal apparatus.